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Bladder

The bladder, also known as the urinary bladder,
is an expandable muscular sac that stores urine before it is excreted out of
the body through the urethra. It is located in the lower abdominal area
near the pelvic bones.
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In Depth:Bladder

The bladder, like the stomach, is
an expandable saclike organ that contracts when it is empty. The inner lining
of the bladder tucks into the folds and expands out to accommodate liquid.

When empty, the bladder’s muscle wall becomes thicker and the entire bladder
becomes firm. As the ureters — two tubes that expel urine from
the kidneys to the bladder — fill the bladder, the muscle wall thins and the
bladder moves upward, toward the abdominal cavity.

This stretching can increase the size of the bladder from about 2 inches to
more than 6 inches long, depending on the amount of liquid. The typical human
bladder reaches its capacity between 16 to 24 ounces of urine, but the urge to
urinate comes when the bladder is about one-quarter full.

An internal sphincter — a type of muscular valve — helps
prevent urine from leaking out. The triangle-shaped base of the bladder, known
as the trigone, helps prevent
stretching of the urethra or backflow into the ureters.

When signaled, the bladder releases urine through the urethra, the tube that
carries urine out of the body. In women, this tube ends between the clitoris
and the vagina.

Healthy bladders hold urine until people have time to relieve themselves,
but problems can arise for varying reasons.

Bladder infections and infections of the urinary tract are more common in
women as the location and length of their urethra makes them more prone to
outside bacteria than men. Also, women who have recently given birth may
experience urinary problems.

Bladder control issues are common in women over the age of 50. Some of those
conditions include: